Physical Layer Signaling by Base Stations for Provisioning Positioning-Resources

ABSTRACT

Improved positioning resolution and latency may be achieved via physical layer signaling between a mobile device (UE) and a base station. The physical layer procedures may aid target UEs in enhancing their positioning accuracy and latency, and/or reducing network overhead while boosting UE power efficiency. Accordingly, a base station may receive, via physical layer signaling from a UE, a request for positioning-resources, for example in response to a determination that current positioning-resources of the UE need to be adjusted. The base station may responsively transmit, via physical layer signaling to the UE, an indication of adjusted positioning-resources, and may optionally transmit an indication of corresponding allocated grant-resources. The base station may receive, via physical layer signaling from the UE, positioning information resulting from positioning measurements performed by the UE according to the adjusted positioning-resources. The base station may optionally receive the positioning information on the corresponding allocated grant-resources.

PRIORITY DATA

This application claims benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 63/089,083, titled “Physical Layer Signaling byBase Stations for Provisioning Positioning Resources”, filed Oct. 8,2020, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety asthough fully and completely set forth herein.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless communications, includingphysical layer signaling by base stations for provisioning positioningresources during wireless communications, e.g., during 3GPP NRcommunications.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage. In recentyears, wireless devices such as smart phones and tablet computers havebecome increasingly sophisticated. In addition to supporting telephonecalls, many mobile devices (i.e., user equipment devices or UEs) nowprovide access to the internet, email, text messaging, and navigationusing the global positioning system (GPS), and are capable of operatingsophisticated applications that utilize these functionalities.Additionally, there exist numerous different wireless communicationtechnologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communicationstandards include GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TDS-CDMA), LTE, LTE Advanced(LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE802.11 (WLAN or Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), BLUETOOTH™, etc. A proposedtelecommunications standard moving beyond the International MobileTelecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) Standards is 5th generationmobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems, referred to as 3GPPNR (otherwise known as 5G-NR for 5G New Radio, also simply referred toas NR). NR proposes a higher capacity for a higher density of mobilebroadband users, also supporting device-to-device, ultra-reliable, andmassive machine communications, as well as lower latency and lowerbattery consumption, than LTE standards.

SUMMARY

Aspects are presented herein of, inter alia, of methods for implementingsolutions for physical layer signaling procedures that enable devices torequest downlink and/or uplink positioning-resources from base stations,and further enable the base stations to provision positioning-resourcesaccordingly, during wireless communications, for example in 3GPP NewRadio (NR) communications. Aspects are further presented herein forwireless communication systems containing user equipment (UE) devicesand/or base stations communicating with each other within the wirelesscommunication systems as proposed herein to implement physical layersignaling in the request and provisioning of positioning-resources.Physical layer procedures may aid target UEs in enhancing theirpositioning accuracy and latency, and/or reducing network overhead whileboosting the power efficiency of the UEs.

Accordingly, a base station may receive, via physical layer signalingfrom a device, a request for positioning-resources for the device,responsive to a determination to adjust current positioning-resources ofthe device. The base station may determine adjustedpositioning-resources, and may also optionally determine correspondingallocated grant-resources, for the UE, based on the received request.The base station may subsequently transmit, via physical layer signalingto the device and responsive to the request, an indication of adjustedpositioning-resources, and may optionally further transmit an indicationof the corresponding allocated grant-resources. Subsequently, the basestation may receive, via physical layer signaling from the device,positioning information indicative of positioning measurements performedby the device using the adjusted positioning-resources, and/orindicative of a location of the device determined using the adjustedpositioning-resources. In some cases, the base station may receive thepositioning information over the corresponding allocatedgrant-resources. The current positioning-resources may need to beadjusted because current positioning-resources may be insufficient forrequired positioning accuracy and/or positioning latency of the device(in order to increase accuracy and reduce latency), or because theyexceed what is necessary for required positioning accuracy and/orpositioning latency of the device (in order to increase power efficiencyof the device), or because the device has determined that it intends toadjust its power consumption.

The request (by the device) may either be implicitly indicated inspecific positioning measurement and/or location information received bythe base station via the physical layer signaling, or explicitlyindicated as resource information received by the base station on one ormore physical uplink channels via the physical layer signaling. Theresource information may be included as part of control stateinformation received on a physical uplink control channel or datapayload received on a physical uplink data channel. The specificpositioning measurement and/or location information may include anindication of a change in serving cell for the device, or a currentpositioning resolution for the device. The resource information mayinclude, but not be limited to, an index of positioning-resources and/orresource sets requested by the device, a spatial receive directionpreferred by the device, a transmit/receive panel index corresponding towhere the device expects to receive positioning reference signals (PRSs)from, PRS bandwidth, PRS duration per slot, PRS periodicity, number ofPRS repetitions per periodicity, a PRS demand transmitted via a specialscheduling request (SR) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH),such as PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 1, a PRS demand transmitted via aspecial physical random access control channel (PRACH), e.g., such as areserved preamble or RACH occasion; or and/or time duration for whichthe PRS is required by the device.

In some aspects, the indication of adjusted positioning-resources may betransmitted via physical layer signaling by the base station to thedevice or from a location management function according to a long termevolution positioning protocol (LPP). Transmitting the indication ofadjusted positioning-resources via physical layer signaling from thebase station to the device may include transmitting the indication aspart of device specific downlink control information (DCI), group-commonDCI, and/or as part of a media access control (MAC) control element. Thebase station may also transmit, to the device and responsive to therequest, an indication of grant-resources which the device is expectedto use when transmitting the positioning information. In some aspects,the indication of grant-resources may be transmitted by the base stationtogether with the indication of adjusted positioning-resources. Theindication of grant-resources and the indication of adjustedpositioning-resources may both be indicated by downlink controlinformation transmitted by the base station on a physical downlinkcontrol channel.

In some aspects, the positioning information may be received by the basestation a specified number of symbols after an end of a measurementperiod during which the positioning measurements are performed by thedevice. The specified number may be determined based on a capability ofthe device. The positioning measurements may have been performed by thedevice during a preconfigured measurement period reserved for performingmeasurements, or during a dynamically allocated measurement periodspecifically provisioned for performing the positioning measurementsusing the adjusted positioning-resources. In some aspects, the basestation may not transmit downlink communications other than positioningreference signals during the specifically provisioned measurementperiod.

Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and/orused with a number of different types of devices, including but notlimited to, base stations, access points, cellular phones, portablemedia players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various othercomputing devices.

This Summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem, according to some aspects;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station in communication with anexemplary wireless user equipment (UE) device, according to someaspects;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE, according to someaspects;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station,according to some aspects;

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary simplified block diagram illustrative ofcellular communication circuitry, according to some aspects;

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary diagram illustrating an Assistance DataTransfer procedure according to the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP).

FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an example of the use of physicallayer signaling by a user device (UE) and a base station for requestingand obtaining positioning-resources in a wireless network, according tosome aspects;

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for a mobile deviceusing physical layer signaling for requesting positioning-resources,according to some aspects; and

FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for a base stationprovisioning positioning-resources for a UE in response to a requestreceived from the UE via physical layer signaling, according to someaspects.

While features described herein are susceptible to various modificationsand alternative forms, specific aspects thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the drawings and detailed description theretoare not intended to be limiting to the particular form disclosed, but onthe contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalentsand alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the subjectmatter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Acronyms

Various acronyms are used throughout the present application.Definitions of the most prominently used acronyms that may appearthroughout the present application are provided below:

-   -   ACK: Acknowledge    -   AMF: Access Mobility and Management Function    -   APR: Applications Processor    -   AUL: Autonomous Uplink Transmission    -   BLER: Block Error Rate    -   BS: Base Station    -   BSR: Buffer Status Report    -   BWP: Bandwidth Part    -   CAPC: Channel Access Priority Class    -   CG: Configured Grant    -   CMR: Change Mode Request    -   CORESET: Control Channel Resource Set    -   COT: Channel Occupancy Time    -   CRC: Cyclic Redundancy Check    -   CS-RNTI: Configured Scheduling Radio Network Temporary        Identifier    -   CSI: Channel State Information    -   DCI: Downlink Control Information    -   DG: Dynamic Grant    -   DL: Downlink (from BS to UE)    -   DMRS: Demodulation Reference Signal    -   DYN: Dynamic    -   ED: Energy Detection    -   FDM: Frequency Division Multiplexing    -   FT: Frame Type    -   GC-PDCCH: Group Common Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   GPRS: General Packet Radio Service    -   GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication    -   GTP: GPRS Tunneling Protocol    -   HARQ: Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request    -   IR: Initialization and Refresh state    -   LAN: Local Area Network    -   LMF: Location Management Function    -   LPP: LTE Positioning Protocol    -   LTE: Long Term Evolution    -   MAC: Media Access Control    -   MAC-CE: MAC Control Element    -   MCS: Modulation and Coding Scheme    -   MIB: Master Information Block    -   MIMO: Multiple-In Multiple-Out    -   NDI: New Data Indication    -   OFDM: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing    -   OSI: Open System Interconnection    -   PBCH: Physical Broadcast Channel    -   PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel    -   PDCP: Packet Data Convergence Protocol    -   PDN: Packet Data Network    -   PDSCH: Physical Downlink Shared Channel    -   PDU: Protocol Data Unit    -   PRB: Physical Resource Block    -   PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel    -   PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared (data) Channel    -   QCL: Quasi Co-Location    -   RACH: Random Access Procedure    -   RAT: Radio Access Technology    -   RB: Resource Block    -   RE: Resource Element    -   RF: Radio Frequency    -   RMSI: Remaining Minimum System Information    -   RNTI: Radio Network Temporary Identifier    -   ROHC: Robust Header Compression    -   RRC: Radio Resource Control    -   RS: Reference Signal (Symbol)    -   RSI: Root Sequence Indicator    -   RTP: Real-time Transport Protocol    -   RV: Redundancy Version    -   RX: Reception/Receive    -   SDM: Spatial Division Multiplexing    -   SID: System Identification Number    -   SGW: Serving Gateway    -   SR: Scheduling Request    -   SRS: Sounding Reference Signal    -   SS: Search Space    -   SSB: Synchronization Signal Block    -   TBS: Transport Block Size    -   TCI: Transmission Configuration Indication    -   TDM: Time Division Multiplexing    -   TRS: Tracking Reference Signal    -   TX: Transmission/Transmit    -   UCI: Uplink Control Information    -   UE: User Equipment    -   UL: Uplink (from UE to BS)    -   UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunication System    -   Wi-Fi: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) RAT based on the        Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11        standards    -   WLAN: Wireless LAN

Terms

The following is a glossary of terms that may appear in the presentapplication:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices.The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium,e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; a computer system memoryor random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, RambusRAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media, e.g.,a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types ofmemory elements, etc. The memory medium may comprise other types ofmemory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory mediummay be located in a first computer system in which the programs areexecuted, or may be located in a second different computer system whichconnects to the first computer system over a network, such as theInternet. In the latter instance, the second computer system may provideprogram instructions to the first computer system for execution. Theterm “memory medium” may include two or more memory mediums which mayreside in different locations, e.g., in different computer systems thatare connected over a network. The memory medium may store programinstructions (e.g., embodied as computer programs) that may be executedby one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—Includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System (or Computer)—any of various types of computing orprocessing systems, including a personal computer system (PC), mainframecomputer system, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance,personal digital assistant (PDA), television system, grid computingsystem, or other device or combinations of devices. In general, the term“computer system” may be broadly defined to encompass any device (orcombination of devices) having at least one processor that executesinstructions from a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which perform wireless communications. Also referred toas wireless communication devices, many of which may be mobile and/orportable. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones or smartphones (e.g., iPhoneTM, Android™-based phones) and tablet computers suchas iPad™, Samsung Galaxy™, etc., gaming devices (e.g., Sony PlayStation™Microsoft XBox™, etc.), portable gaming devices (e.g., Nintendo DS™,PlayStation Portable™, Gameboy Advance™, iPod™), laptops, wearabledevices (e.g., Apple Watch™ Google Glass™), PDAs, portable Internetdevices, music players, data storage devices, or other handheld devices,unmanned aerial vehicles (e.g., drones) and unmanned aerial controllers,etc. Various other types of devices would fall into this category ifthey include Wi-Fi or both cellular and Wi-Fi communication capabilitiesand/or other wireless communication capabilities, for example overshort-range radio access technologies (SRATs) such as BLUETOOTH™, etc.In general, the term “UE” or “UE device” may be broadly defined toencompass any electronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device(or combination of devices) which is capable of wireless communicationand may also be portable/mobile.

Wireless Device (or wireless communication device)—any of various typesof computer systems devices which performs wireless communications usingWLAN communications, SRAT communications, Wi-Fi communications and thelike. As used herein, the term “wireless device” may refer to a UEdevice, as defined above, or to a stationary device, such as astationary wireless client or a wireless base station. For example awireless device may be any type of wireless station of an 802.11 system,such as an access point (AP) or a client station (UE), or any type ofwireless station of a cellular communication system communicatingaccording to a cellular radio access technology (e.g., LTE, CDMA, GSM),such as a base station or a cellular telephone, for example.

Communication Device—any of various types of computer systems or devicesthat perform communications, where the communications can be wired orwireless. A communication device can be portable (or mobile) or may bestationary or fixed at a certain location. A wireless device is anexample of a communication device. A UE is another example of acommunication device.

Base Station (BS)—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless telephone system or radio system.

Processor—refers to various elements (e.g., circuits) or combinations ofelements that are capable of performing a function in a device, e.g., ina user equipment device or in a cellular network device. Processors mayinclude, for example: general purpose processors and associated memory,portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processorcores or processing circuit cores, processing circuit arrays orprocessor arrays, circuits such as ASICs (Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits), programmable hardware elements such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), as well as any of various combinationsof the above.

Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter)to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term“channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term“channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a mannerthat is consistent with the standard of the type of device withreference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widthsmay be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions,etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide whileBluetooth channels may be 1 MHz wide. Other protocols and standards mayinclude different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standardsmay define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channelsfor uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses suchas data, control information, etc.

Band (or Frequency Band)—The term “band” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a section of spectrum (e.g.,radio frequency spectrum) in which channels are used or set aside forthe same purpose. Furthermore, “frequency band” is used to denote anyinterval in the frequency domain, delimited by a lower frequency and anupper frequency. The term may refer to a radio band or an interval ofsome other spectrum. A radio communications signal may occupy a range offrequencies over which (or where) the signal is carried. Such afrequency range is also referred to as the bandwidth of the signal.Thus, bandwidth refers to the difference between the upper frequency andlower frequency in a continuous band of frequencies. A frequency bandmay represent one communication channel or it may be subdivided intomultiple communication channels. Allocation of radio frequency ranges todifferent uses is a major function of radio spectrum allocation.

Wi-Fi—The term “Wi-Fi” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, andat least includes a wireless communication network or RAT that isserviced by wireless LAN (WLAN) access points and which providesconnectivity through these access points to the Internet. Most modernWi-Fi networks (or WLAN networks) are based on IEEE 802.11 standards andare marketed under the name “Wi-Fi”. A Wi-Fi (WLAN) network is differentfrom a cellular network.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

Approximately—refers to a value that is almost correct or exact. Forexample, approximately may refer to a value that is within 1 to 10percent of the exact (or desired) value. It should be noted, however,that the actual threshold value (or tolerance) may be applicationdependent. For example, in some aspects, “approximately” may mean within0.1% of some specified or desired value, while in various other aspects,the threshold may be, for example, 2%, 3%, 5%, and so forth, as desiredor as required by the particular application.

Concurrent—refers to parallel execution or performance, where tasks,processes, or programs are performed in an at least partiallyoverlapping manner. For example, concurrency may be implemented using“strong” or strict parallelism, where tasks are performed (at leastpartially) in parallel on respective computational elements, or using“weak parallelism”, where the tasks are performed in an interleavedmanner, e.g., by time multiplexing of execution threads.

Station (STA)—The term “station” herein refers to any device that hasthe capability of communicating wirelessly, e.g., by using the 802.11protocol. A station may be a laptop, a desktop PC, PDA, access point orWi-Fi phone or any type of device similar to a UE. An STA may be fixed,mobile, portable or wearable. Generally in wireless networkingterminology, a station (STA) broadly encompasses any device withwireless communication capabilities, and the terms station (STA),wireless client (UE) and node (BS) are therefore often usedinterchangeably.

Configured to—Various components may be described as “configured to”perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broadrecitation generally meaning “having structure that” performs the taskor tasks during operation. As such, the component can be configured toperform the task even when the component is not currently performingthat task (e.g., a set of electrical conductors may be configured toelectrically connect a module to another module, even when the twomodules are not connected). In some contexts, “configured to” may be abroad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that”performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the component canbe configured to perform the task even when the component is notcurrently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structurecorresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits.

Transmission Scheduling—Refers to the scheduling of transmissions, suchas wireless transmissions. In some implementations of cellular radiocommunications, signal and data transmissions may be organized accordingto designated time units of specific duration during which transmissionstake place. As used herein, the term “slot” has the full extent of itsordinary meaning, and at least refers to a smallest (or minimum)scheduling time unit in wireless communications. For example, in 3GPPLTE, transmissions are divided into radio frames, each radio frame beingof equal (time) duration (e.g., 10 ms). A radio frame in 3GPP LTE may befurther divided into a specified number of (e.g., ten) subframes, eachsubframe being of equal time duration, with the subframes designated asthe smallest (minimum) scheduling unit, or the designated time unit fora transmission. Thus, in a 3GPP LTE example, a “subframe” may beconsidered an example of a “slot” as defined above. Similarly, asmallest (or minimum) scheduling time unit for 5G NR (or NR, for short)transmissions is referred to as a “slot”. In different communicationprotocols the smallest (or minimum) scheduling time unit may also benamed differently.

Resources—The term “resource” has the full extent of its ordinarymeaning and may refer to frequency resources and time resources usedduring wireless communications. As used herein, a resource element (RE)refers to a specific amount or quantity of a resource. For example, inthe context of a time resource, a resource element may be a time periodof specific length. In the context of a frequency resource, a resourceelement may be a specific frequency bandwidth, or a specific amount offrequency bandwidth, which may be centered on a specific frequency. Asone specific example, a resource element may refer to a resource unit of1 symbol (in reference to a time resource, e.g., a time period ofspecific length) per 1 subcarrier (in reference to a frequency resource,e.g., a specific frequency bandwidth, which may be centered on aspecific frequency). A resource element group (REG) has the full extentof its ordinary meaning and at least refers to a specified number ofconsecutive resource elements. In some implementations, a resourceelement group may not include resource elements reserved for referencesignals. A control channel element (CCE) refers to a group of aspecified number of consecutive REGs. A resource block (RB) refers to aspecified number of resource elements made up of a specified number ofsubcarriers per specified number of symbols. Each RB may include aspecified number of subcarriers. A resource block group (RBG) refers toa unit including multiple RBs. The number of RBs within one RBG maydiffer depending on the system bandwidth.

Various components may be described as performing a task or tasks, forconvenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpretedas including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph six, interpretation for thatcomponent.

FIGS. 1 and 2—Exemplary Communication Systems

3GPP LTE/NR defines a number of downlink (DL) physical channels,categorized as transport or control channels, to carry informationblocks received from the MAC and higher layers. 3GPP LTE/NR also definesphysical layer channels for the uplink (UL). The Physical DownlinkShared Channel (PDSCH) is a DL transport channel, and is the maindata-bearing channel allocated to users on a dynamic and opportunisticbasis. The PDSCH carries data in Transport Blocks (TB) corresponding toa media access control protocol data unit (MAC PDU), passed from the MAClayer to the physical (PHY) layer once per Transmission Time Interval(TTI). The PDSCH is also used to transmit broadcast information such asSystem Information Blocks (SIB) and paging messages.

The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) is a DL control channelthat carries the resource assignment for UEs that are contained in aDownlink Control Information (DCI) message. For example, the DCI mayinclude a transmission configuration indication (TCI) relating tobeamforming, with the TCI including configurations such asquasi-co-located (QCL) relationships between the downlink referencesignals (DL-RSs) in one Channel State Information RS (CSI-RS) set andthe PDSCH Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) ports. Each TCI state cancontain parameters for configuring a QCL relationship between one or twodownlink reference signals and the DMRS ports of the PDSCH, the DMRSport of PDCCH or the CSI-RS port(s) of a CSI-RS resource. MultiplePDCCHs can be transmitted in the same subframe using Control ChannelElements (CCE), each of which is a set of resource elements known asResource Element Groups (REG). The PDCCH can employ quadraturephase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation, with a specified number (e.g.,four) of QPSK symbols mapped to each REG. Furthermore, a specifiednumber (e.g., 1, 2, 4, or 8) of CCEs can be used for a UE, depending onchannel conditions, to ensure sufficient robustness.

The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is a UL channel shared by alldevices (user equipment, UE) in a radio cell to transmit user data tothe network. The scheduling for all UEs is under control of the basestation (e.g., eNB or gNB). The base station uses the uplink schedulinggrant (e.g., in DCI) to inform the UE about resource block (RB)assignment, and the modulation and coding scheme to be used. PUSCHtypically supports QPSK and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). Inaddition to user data, the PUSCH also carries any control informationnecessary to decode the information, such as transport format indicatorsand multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) parameters. Control data ismultiplexed with information data prior to digital Fourier transform(DFT) spreading.

One important aspect of wireless communications is device positioning.Positioning refers to the process of determining the geographicallocation of a device. Once the coordinates of a device have beenestablished, they can be mapped to a location such as a road, building,landmark, or object, and delivered back to the requesting service. Themapping function and delivery of location information are part of whatis referred to as location services (LCS). Services using location dataare referred to as location-aware services, and customer services thatare location aware are referred to as location-based services (LBSs).Services based on positioning are a benefit to users, and LBSs areuseful in optimizing network performance and enhancing automatedservices such as network self-learning and self-optimization, amongothers. Positioning in wireless networks is challenging due to themobility of users and the dynamic nature of environment factors andradio signals.

In cellular communications, for example in 3GPP LTE, a positioningarchitecture has been established with three primary network elements:the LCS client, LCS target and LCS server. The LCS server can be aphysical or logical entity that manages positioning for an LCS targetdevice, collecting measurements and other location information,assisting the UE in measurement calculations as necessary, estimatingthe LCS target location. An LCS client can be a software and/or hardwareentity interacting with an LCS server to obtain location information forLCS targets. The LCS client may reside in the LCS target, transmitting arequest to the LCS server to obtain location information. The LCS serverin turn processes the request and sends the positioning result back tothe LCS client. A positioning request can originate from either the UEor the network. The positioning architecture can facilitate thepositioning of UEs according to established protocols. One such protocolis the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) devised for 3GGP LTEcommunications. LPP is a point-to-point protocol for communicationbetween an LCS server and an LCS target device, and is used forpositioning the target device. It is used in the user layer and/orcontrol layer, with multiple LPP procedures allowed in series and/or inparallel to reduce latency.

The study of techniques relating to positioning enhancements has beenproposed for Release 17 of the 3GPP NR standard (Rel-17 NR). The pointsof study specifically include identifying and evaluating positioningtechniques, downlink/uplink (DL/UL) positioning reference signals,signaling and procedures for improved accuracy, reduced latency, networkefficiency, and device efficiency, while also considering a study ofmethodologies for network-assisted and UE-assisted integrity. The mainstudy objectives have thus been identified as higher positioningaccuracy, reduced latency, higher network (NW) efficiency, higher deviceefficiency, and higher positioning integrity.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem, according to some aspects. It is noted that the system of FIG. 1is merely one example of a possible system, and aspects may beimplemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes basestations 102A through 102N, also collectively referred to as basestation(s) 102 or base station 102. As shown in FIG. 1, base station102A communicates over a transmission medium with one or more userdevices 106A through 106N. Each of the user devices may be referred toherein as a “user equipment” (UE) or UE device. Thus, the user devices106A through 106N are referred to as UEs or UE devices, and are alsocollectively referred to as UE(s) 106 or UE 106. Various ones of the UEdevices may operate using physical layer signaling for requestingpositioning-resources as disclosed herein.

The base station 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cellsite, and may include hardware that enables wireless communication withthe UEs 106A through 106N. The base station 102A may also be equipped tocommunicate with a network 100, e.g., a core network of a cellularservice provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, neutral host or variousCBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) deployments, among variouspossibilities. Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communicationbetween the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network100. In particular, the cellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106with various telecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/ordata services. The communication area (or coverage area) of the basestation may be referred to as a “cell.” It should also be noted that“cell” may also refer to a logical identity for a given coverage area ata given frequency. In general, any independent cellular wirelesscoverage area may be referred to as a “cell”. In such cases a basestation may be situated at particular confluences of three cells. Thebase station, in this uniform topology, may serve three 120 degree beamwidth areas referenced as cells. Also, in case of carrier aggregation,small cells, relays, etc. may each represent a cell. Thus, in carrieraggregation in particular, there may be primary cells and secondarycells which may service at least partially overlapping coverage areasbut on different respective frequencies. For example, a base station mayserve any number of cells, and cells served by a base station may or maynot be collocated (e.g., remote radio heads). As also used herein, fromthe perspective of UEs, a base station may sometimes be considered asrepresenting the network insofar as uplink and downlink communicationsof the UE are concerned. Thus, a UE communicating with one or more basestations in the network may also be interpreted as the UE communicatingwith the network, and may further also be considered at least a part ofthe UE communicating on the network or over the network.

The base station(s) 102 and the user devices may be configured tocommunicate over the transmission medium using any of various radioaccess technologies (RATs), also referred to as wireless communicationtechnologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM, UMTS (WCDMA),LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), LAA/LTE-U, 5G-NR (NR, for short), 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX etc. Notethat if a base station(s) 102 are implemented in the context of LTE, itmay alternately be referred to as an ‘eNodeB’ or ‘eNB’. Note that if thebase station 102A is implemented in the context of 5G NR, it mayalternately be referred to as ‘gNodeB’ or ‘gNB’. In some aspects, thebase station(s) 102 may implement signaling for provisioningpositioning-resources requested via physical layer signaling by UEs, asdescribed herein. Depending on a given application or specificconsiderations, for convenience some of the various different RATs maybe functionally grouped according to an overall defining characteristic.For example, all cellular RATs may be collectively considered asrepresentative of a first (form/type of) RAT, while Wi-Fi communicationsmay be considered as representative of a second RAT. In other cases,individual cellular RATs may be considered individually as differentRATs. For example, when differentiating between cellular communicationsand Wi-Fi communications, “first RAT” may collectively refer to allcellular RATs under consideration, while “second RAT” may refer toWi-Fi. Similarly, when applicable, different forms of Wi-Ficommunications (e.g., over 2.4 GHz vs. over 5 GHz) may be considered ascorresponding to different RATs. Furthermore, cellular communicationsperformed according to a given RAT (e.g., LTE or NR) may bedifferentiated from each other on the basis of the frequency spectrum inwhich those communications are conducted. For example, LTE or NRcommunications may be performed over a primary licensed spectrum as wellas over a secondary spectrum such as an unlicensed spectrum and/orspectrum that was assigned to Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS).Overall, the use of various terms and expressions will always be clearlyindicated with respect to and within the context of the variousapplications/aspects under consideration.

As shown, the base station 102A may also be equipped to communicate witha network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellular service provider, atelecommunication network such as a public switched telephone network(PSTN), and/or the Internet, among various possibilities). Thus, thebase station 102A may facilitate communication between the user devicesand/or between the user devices and the network 100. In particular, thecellular base station 102A may provide UEs 106 with varioustelecommunication capabilities, such as voice, SMS and/or data services.Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations102B . . . 102N) operating according to the same or a different cellularcommunication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, whichmay provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs106A-106N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or morecellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station 102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs106A-106N as illustrated in FIG. 1, each one of UE(s) 106 may also becapable of receiving signals from (and possibly within communicationrange of) one or more other cells (which might be provided by basestations 102B-102N and/or any other base stations), which may bereferred to as “neighboring cells”. Such cells may also be capable offacilitating communication between user devices and/or between userdevices and the network 100. Such cells may include “macro” cells,“micro” cells, “pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any of variousother granularities of service area size. For example, base stations102A-102B illustrated in FIG. 1 might be macro cells, while base station102N might be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

In some aspects, base station 102A may be a next generation basestation, e.g., a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In someaspects, a gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC)network and/or to a NR core (NRC) network. In addition, a gNB cell mayinclude one or more transmission and reception points (TRPs). Inaddition, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may be connectedto one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

As mentioned above, UE(s) 106 may be capable of communicating usingmultiple wireless communication standards. For example, a UE might beconfigured to communicate using any or all of a 3GPP cellularcommunication standard (such as LTE or NR) or a 3GPP2 cellularcommunication standard (such as a cellular communication standard in theCDMA2000 family of cellular communication standards). Base station 102and other similar base stations operating according to the same or adifferent cellular communication standard may thus be provided as one ormore networks of cells, which may provide continuous or nearlycontinuous overlapping service to UE 106 and similar devices over a widegeographic area via one or more cellular communication standards.

The UE(s) 106 might also or alternatively be configured to communicateusing WLAN, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTH™ Low-Energy, one or more globalnavigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one and/ormore mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H),etc. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (includingmore than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.Furthermore, UE(s) 106 may also communicate with Network 100, throughone or more base stations or through other devices, stations, or anyappliances not explicitly shown but considered to be part of Network100. UE(s) 106 communicating with a network may therefore be interpretedas the UEs 106 communicating with one or more network nodes consideredto be a part of the network and which may interact with the UE(s) 106 toconduct communications with the UE(s) 106 and in some cases affect atleast some of the communication parameters and/or use of communicationresources of the UE(s) 106.

Furthermore, as also illustrated in FIG. 1, at least some of the UE(s)106, e.g., 106D and 106E may represent vehicles communicating with eachother and with base station 102A, via cellular communications such as3GPP LTE and/or 5G-NR for example. In addition, UE 106F may represent apedestrian who is communicating and/or interacting with the vehiclesrepresented by UEs 106D and 106E in a similar manner. Further aspects ofvehicles communicating in a network exemplified in FIG. 1 are disclosedin the context of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications such as thecommunications specified by 3GPP TS 22.185 V 14.3.0, among others.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary user equipment 106 (e.g., one of thedevices 106A through 106N) in communication with the base station 102and an access point 112, according to some aspects. The UE 106 may be adevice with both cellular communication capability and non-cellularcommunication capability (e.g., BLUETOOTH™, Wi-Fi, and so forth) such asa mobile phone, a hand-held device, a computer or a tablet, or virtuallyany type of wireless device. The UE 106 may include a processor that isconfigured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The UE 106may perform any of the methods described herein by executing such storedinstructions. Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 may include aprogrammable hardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gatearray) that is configured to perform any of the methods describedherein, or any portion of any of the methods described herein. The UE106 may be configured to communicate using any of multiple wirelesscommunication protocols. For example, the UE 106 may be configured tocommunicate using two or more of CDMA2000, LTE, LTE-A, NR, WLAN, orGNSS. Other combinations of wireless communication standards are alsopossible.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using oneor more wireless communication protocols according to one or more RATstandards, .g. those previously mentioned above. In some aspects, the UE106 may share one or more parts of a receive chain and/or transmit chainbetween multiple wireless communication standards. The shared radio mayinclude a single antenna, or may include multiple antennas (e.g., forMIMO) for performing wireless communications. Alternatively, the UE 106may include separate transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., includingseparate antennas and other radio components) for each wirelesscommunication protocol with which it is configured to communicate. Asanother alternative, the UE 106 may include one or more radios or radiocircuitry which are shared between multiple wireless communicationprotocols, and one or more radios which are used exclusively by a singlewireless communication protocol. For example, the UE 106 may include ashared radio for communicating using either of LTE or CDMA2000 1xRTT orNR, and separate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi andBLUETOOTH™. Other configurations are also possible.

FIG. 3—Block Diagram of an Exemplary UE

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary UE 106, according tosome aspects. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip (SOC)300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example, asshown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302 which may executeprogram instructions for the UE 106 and display circuitry 304 which mayperform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display360. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit(MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from theprocessor(s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory(e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 304,radio circuitry 330, connector I/F 320, and/or display 360. The MMU 340may be configured to perform memory protection and page tabletranslation or set up. In some aspects, the MMU 340 may be included as aportion of the processor(s) 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g.,including NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for couplingto the computer system), the display 360, and wireless communicationcircuitry (e.g., for LTE, LTE-A, NR, CDMA2000, BLUETOOTH™, Wi-Fi, GPS,etc.). The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna (e.g., 335 a),and possibly multiple antennas (e.g., illustrated by antennas 335 a and335 b), for performing wireless communication with base stations and/orother devices. Antennas 335 a and 335 b are shown by way of example, andUE device 106 may include fewer or more antennas. Overall, the one ormore antennas are collectively referred to as antenna(s) 335. Forexample, the UE device 106 may use antenna(s) 335 to perform thewireless communication with the aid of radio circuitry 330. As notedabove, the UE may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiplewireless communication standards in some aspects.

As further described herein, the UE 106 (and/or base station(s) 102) mayinclude hardware and software components for operating using controlsignaling that enhances physical control channel (e.g., PDCCH)transmission and reception, as further detailed herein. The processor(s)302 of the UE device 106 may be configured to implement part or all ofthe methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructionsstored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readablememory medium). In other aspects, processor(s) 302 may be configured asa programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field ProgrammableGate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).Furthermore, processor(s) 302 may be coupled to and/or may interoperatewith other components as shown in FIG. 3, to implement use of physicallayer signaling to request positioning-resources according to variousaspects disclosed herein. Processor(s) 302 may also implement variousother applications and/or end-user applications running on UE 106.

In some aspects, radio circuitry 330 may include separate controllersdedicated to controlling communications for various respective RATstandards. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, radio circuitry 330 mayinclude a Wi-Fi controller 356, a cellular controller (e.g., LTE and/orNR controller) 352, and BLUETOOTH™ controller 354, and in at least someaspects, one or more or all of these controllers may be implemented asrespective integrated circuits (ICs or chips, for short) incommunication with each other and with SOC 300 (and more specificallywith processor(s) 302). For example, Wi-Fi controller 356 maycommunicate with cellular controller 352 over a cell-ISM link or WCIinterface, and/or BLUETOOTH™ controller 354 may communicate withcellular controller 352 over a cell-ISM link, etc. While three separatecontrollers are illustrated within radio circuitry 330, other aspectshave fewer or more similar controllers for various different RATs thatmay be implemented in UE device 106. For example, at least one exemplaryblock diagram illustrative of some aspects of cellular controller 352 isshown in FIG. 5 and will be further described below.

FIG. 4—Block Diagram of an Exemplary Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary base station 102,according to some aspects. It is noted that the base station of FIG. 4is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2. The network port470 (or an additional network port) may also or alternatively beconfigured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., a core network of acellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility relatedservices and/or other services to a plurality of devices, such as UEdevices 106. In some cases, the network port 470 may couple to atelephone network via the core network, and/or the core network mayprovide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devices serviced bythe cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas, (e.g., illustrated by antennas 434 a and 434 b) forperforming wireless communication with mobile devices and/or otherdevices. Antennas 434 a and 434 b are shown by way of example, and basestation 102 may include fewer or more antennas. Overall, the one or moreantennas, which may include antenna 434 a and/or antenna 434 b, arecollectively referred to as antenna(s) 434. Antenna(s) 434 may beconfigured to operate as a wireless transceiver and may be furtherconfigured to communicate with UE devices 106 via radio circuitry 430.The antenna(s) 434 may communicate with the radio circuitry 430 viacommunication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be a receive chain,a transmit chain or both. The radio circuitry 430 may be designed tocommunicate via various wireless telecommunication standards, including,but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A, 5G-NR (or NR for short), WCDMA,CDMA2000, etc. The processor(s) 404 of the base station 102 may beconfigured to implement part or all of the methods described herein,e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g.,a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium), for base station 102to implement signaling for provisioning positioning-resources requestedvia physical layer signaling by UEs, as disclosed herein. Alternatively,the processor(s) 404 may be configured as a programmable hardwareelement, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Inthe case of certain RATs, for example Wi-Fi, base station 102 may bedesigned as an access point (AP), in which case network port 470 may beimplemented to provide access to a wide area network and/or local areanetwork (s), e.g., it may include at least one Ethernet port, and radio430 may be designed to communicate according to the Wi-Fi standard. Basestation 102 may operate according to the various methods and aspectsthereof as disclosed herein to implement signaling for provisioningpositioning-resources requested via physical layer signaling by UEs.

FIG. 5—Block Diagram of Exemplary Cellular Communication Circuitry

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary simplified block diagram illustrative ofcellular controller 352, according to some aspects. It is noted that theblock diagram of the cellular communication circuitry of FIG. 5 is onlyone example of a possible cellular communication circuit; othercircuits, such as circuits including or coupled to sufficient antennasfor different RATs to perform uplink activities using separate antennas,or circuits including or coupled to fewer antennas, e.g., that may beshared among multiple RATs, are also possible. According to someaspects, cellular communication circuitry 352 may be included in acommunication device, such as communication device 106 described above.As noted above, communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE)device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wirelessstation, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computingdevice (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), atablet and/or a combination of devices, among other devices.

The cellular communication circuitry 352 may couple (e.g.,communicatively; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, suchas antennas 335 a-b and 336 as shown. In some aspects, cellularcommunication circuitry 352 may include dedicated receive chains(including and/or coupled to (e.g., communicatively; directly orindirectly) dedicated processors and/or radios) for multiple RATs (e.g.,a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). Forexample, as shown in FIG. 5, cellular communication circuitry 352 mayinclude a first modem 510 and a second modem 520. The first modem 510may be configured for communications according to a first RAT, e.g.,such as LTE or LTE-A, and the second modem 520 may be configured forcommunications according to a second RAT, e.g., such as 5G NR.

As shown, the first modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 anda memory 516 in communication with processors 512. Modem 510 may be incommunication with a radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals.For example, RF front end 530 may include receive circuitry (RX) 532 andtransmit circuitry (TX) 534. In some aspects, receive circuitry 532 maybe in communication with downlink (DL) front end 550, which may includecircuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335 a.

Similarly, the second modem 520 may include one or more processors 522and a memory 526 in communication with processors 522. Modem 520 may bein communication with an RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may includecircuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RFfront end 540 may include receive circuitry 542 and transmit circuitry544. In some aspects, receive circuitry 542 may be in communication withDL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radiosignals via antenna 335 b.

In some aspects, a switch 570 may couple transmit circuitry 534 touplink (UL) front end 572. In addition, switch 570 may couple transmitcircuitry 544 to UL front end 572. UL front end 572 may includecircuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Thus, whencellular communication circuitry 352 receives instructions to transmitaccording to the first RAT (e.g., as supported via the first modem 510),switch 570 may be switched to a first state that allows the first modem510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmitchain that includes transmit circuitry 534 and UL front end 572).Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 352 receivesinstructions to transmit according to the second RAT (e.g., as supportedvia the second modem 520), switch 570 may be switched to a second statethat allows the second modem 520 to transmit signals according to thesecond RAT (e.g., via a transmit chain that includes transmit circuitry544 and UL front end 572).

As described herein, the first modem 510 and/or the second modem 520 mayinclude hardware and software components for implementing any of thevarious features and techniques described herein. The processors 512,522 may be configured to implement part or all of the features describedherein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on a memorymedium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium).Alternatively (or in addition), processors 512, 522 may be configured asa programmable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field ProgrammableGate Array), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).Alternatively (or in addition) the processors 512, 522, in conjunctionwith one or more of the other components 530, 532, 534, 540, 542, 544,550, 570, 572, 335 and 336 may be configured to implement part or all ofthe features described herein.

In addition, as described herein, processors 512, 522 may include one ormore processing elements. Thus, processors 512, 522 may include one ormore integrated circuits (ICs) that are configured to perform thefunctions of processors 512, 522. In addition, each integrated circuitmay include circuitry (e.g., first circuitry, second circuitry, etc.)configured to perform the functions of processors 512, 522.

In some aspects, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may includeonly one transmit/receive chain. For example, the cellular communicationcircuitry 352 may not include the modem 520, the RF front end 540, theDL front end 560, and/or the antenna 335 b. As another example, thecellular communication circuitry 352 may not include the modem 510, theRF front end 530, the DL front end 550, and/or the antenna 335 a. Insome aspects, the cellular communication circuitry 352 may also notinclude the switch 570, and the RF front end 530 or the RF front end 540may be in communication, e.g., directly, with the UL front end 572.

Positioning-Assistance Data

As previously mentioned, LPP is a point-to-point protocol forcommunication between an LCS server and an LCS target device used forpositioning the target device. In a cellular network, the target device,e.g., UE, may communicate with a base station (e.g., via a Uu interface,which is a radio interface between the UE and the base station), and thebase station may additionally communicate with the core network (e.g.,via an S1 interface, which is a user plane interface between the basestation and the core network serving gateway). The core network mayinclude the location server. A basic assistance data transfer procedurefor positioning is shown in FIG. 6. The target 602 may transmit aRequest Assistance Data message, via LPP, to the server 604, asindicated in communication 610. When triggered to transmit a RequestAssistance Data message, the target device 602 may set the informationelements (IEs)—for the positioning-method-specific request forassistance data—to request the data indicated by upper layers. Theserver 604 may respond with a Provide Assistance Data message containingassistance data transmitted to the target device 602 as indicated incommunication 612. The transferred assistance data is intended to matchor be a subset of the assistance data requested in 610. The server 604may also provide any not requested information that the server 604 mayconsider useful to the target 602, as indicated in communication 614.

Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) is a positioning featurethat represents a method by which the UE measures the time differencebetween specific signals from several base stations and reports thosetime differences to a specific device in the network (e.g., to a ServingMobile Location Center, SMLC), which then calculates the UEs' positionbased on these time differences and knowledge of the base stationlocations. For OTDOA positioning, the UE may initiate Assistant DataTransfer and/or Location Information Delivery through LPP to theLocation Management Function (LMF, which is a positioning server in thecontrol plane). As currently determined in the 3GPP standard (TS38.805), the UE may determine that certain OTDOA positioning assistancedata is desired (e.g., as part of a positioning procedure when the LMFprovided assistance data is not sufficient for the UE to fulfill therequest) and may transmit an LPP “Request Assistance Data” message tothe LMF. The UE may send an LPP “Provide Location Information” messageto the LMF. The “Provide Location Information” message may include anyUE OTDOA measurements already available at the UE. The LPP signaling forthe communication between the UE and the LMF as described above involveat least three interfaces. The Uu interface (for communication betweenthe UE and base station), the NG interface (for communication betweenthe base station and the Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF,which is a control plane function in the core network and responsiblefor registration management, reachability management, connectionmanagement, and mobility management), and an NLS interface (forcommunication between the AMF and LMF; where the NLS functions as atransport link for LPP and is transparent to all UE related and basestation related positioning procedures.) The latency of the stepsdiscussed above may depend on deployment, and can range from severalmilliseconds to tens of milliseconds.

Device (UE) Triggered Assistance Data with Physical Layer Signaling

As mentioned above, LPP involves multiple layer signaling, whichencumbers the positioning process. In many cases, dynamicreconfiguration of positioning-resources based on or responsive todifferent needs of a mobile device, (e.g., of a UE) may result ingreatly improved operation of the device. As will be further detailedbelow, a mobile device may improve its positioning by using physicallayer signaling to request updates and reconfiguration ofpositioning-resources from a base station, and the base station mayprovide corresponding positioning-resources and/or assistance data inresponse. In one aspect, the positioning-resources may be provisioned toachieve higher positioning precision and lower positioning latency thanwhat is possible using presently available signaling. High positioningprecision typically requires a wider (or high) bandwidth PRS, whichyields higher positioning resolution. However, high bandwidthmeasurements typically require more power consumption from the device,or UE. A wider bandwidth also represents additional overhead from theperspective of network resource utilization. Lower latency means afaster detection of location/position change if a device, which yieldsmore accurate positioning. However, faster detection requires fastermeasurement rates, which also increases power consumption of the device.As disclosed herein, various aspects of physical layer signaling forreconfiguration and/or provisioning of positioning-resources andassistance data may facilitate balancing the need for higher precisionand lower latency positioning with maintaining low power consumption ofthe device.

Pursuant to the above, physical layer signaling protocols between adevice and base station may be implemented to improve the request andprovisioning of positioning-resources and assistant data for devicepositioning. According to some aspects, a device (e.g., a UE) maytrigger a physical layer (or L1) signaling for a request or a change ofassistance data for positioning. The triggering may be based on specificneeds of the device. For example, in certain applications the device mayrequire higher location/position precision than in other applications.Similarly, in some cases the device may require a faster update of itslocation/position than in other cases. The device may assess its ownpositioning requirements, for example from its application layer, andmay trigger the physical layer signaling for updatedpositioning-resources accordingly. This allows for dynamic adjustment ofbandwidth and latency requirements, which results in a better balancebetween power consumption and precision/latency. Triggering requests foran increase and/or decrease of resources in such a manner may therebyoptimize overall operation of the device. The resolution and latency ofthe positioning are respectively determined by different aspects of thePSR configurations. For example, a higher bandwidth may be requested formore accurate positioning, while a denser periodicity configuration maybe requested for fast detection of location change. The base station mayin turn indicate the resource changes to the device. In some aspects,the device may trigger such requests for a change in positioningresource configuration.

For example, the UE (device) may be initially defined with a narrowbanddownlink position reference signal (DL PRS) and/or uplink positionsounding reference signal (UL PSRS). Such definition may include largeperiodicities in order to enhance the communication efficiency betweenthe UE and the network (e.g., between the UE and the base station). TheUE may determine that the current provided assistance data is notsufficient for the required accuracy and/or latency, and maytrigger/request further assistance data for positioning in response. Forexample, the UE may request more frequency resources and/or a widebandDL-PRS and/or wideband PSRS. It is worth noting that this involvesdirect support for a change of bandwidth forpositioning-reference-signals.

Implicit and Explicit Triggering/Request for Positioning

The above described requests for the assistance data by the UE may beimplicit or explicit. For implicit requests, the request is embeddedwithin the reporting of information from the UE to the base station. Inother words, positioning measurement and/or location informationreported by the UE to the base station may be evaluated as requiring aresponsive adjustment of the positioning or PRS resources. For example,the UE may report positioning measurement and/or location informationthat indicates a change of serving cell ID, and/or a specific “TimingMeasurement Quality Resolution” (TMQR) value. (The TMQR defines theresolution levels used in the Value field.) If the UE reports a TMQR ofa lower value than what was initially or previously configured, the basestation may adjust the PRS resources accordingly (to better correspondto the reported TMQR). In other words, if the UE reports dropping fromhigh to low positioning resolution, such a drop may be interpreted(e.g., by the base station) to implicitly indicate that UE is requestingmore DL-PRS resources, e.g., DL-PRS resources with larger bandwidthand/or shorter periodicities.

For explicit requests, the UE may request change of assistance datathrough indications in PUCCH or PUSCH as part of Channel StateInformation (CSI) payload or PUSCH payload. Such indications may includebut are not limited to one or more of the following:

-   -   An index of the DL-PRS resource(s) or DL-PRS resource set(s)        that the UE wishes to receive;    -   The spatial receive direction preferred by the UE; e.g., a        DL-PRS resource index or SSB/CSI-RS (Synchronization Signal        Block/Channel State Information Reference Signal) resource        index;    -   Transmit/Receive Panel (TRP) index corresponding to where the UE        expect to receive DL-PRS from (in a multi-TRP scenario the UE        may expect measurements only from a certain TRP, e.g., from a        TRP corresponding to the strongest signal reaching the UE);    -   PRS resource bandwidth;    -   PRS duration per slot;    -   PRS periodicity;    -   Number of PRS repetitions per periodicity;    -   Indicating PRS demand by transmitting a special scheduling        request (SR) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), such        as PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 1;    -   Indicating PRS demand by transmitting a special physical random        access control channel (PRACH), e.g., such as a reserved        preamble or RACH occasion; or    -   Duration for which the PRS is needed.

Network Response to Positioning Resource Requests Received via PhysicalLayer Signaling

In response to receiving position resource requests via physical layersignaling, the base station may provide the requested assistance dataindicating the adjusted resources to the UE. According to a firstoption, the base station may indicate the updated resources via physicallayer signaling. For example, the updated resources may be indicated ina DCI (for single UE) or in a group-common DCI (for initiatingpositioning resource update for a group of users) or in a MAC-CE. Asanother example, according to a second option, legacy signaling may beused from the network side, e.g., through LPP signaling to provideassistance data and positioning-resources to the UE in response. As afurther example, the base station may activate/trigger PRS resourcesfollowing a UE's demand and/or without a demand from the UE.

In addition to the updated resources, the base station may also providecorresponding grants and grant-resources to the UE for the UE to use intransmitting the updated positioning measurements and/or locationinformation corresponding to the measurements made using the updatedpositioning (e.g., PRS) resources. In the current specification,positioning measurement and calculation reports are transmitted by theUE on the PUSCH according to an uplink (UL) configured grant. Fordynamic grants, a separate DCI is used. A dynamic grant requiresadditional (extra) signaling, while an UL configured grant may not behighly reliable as it does not permit link adaptation or dynamicmodification of the modulation coding scheme (MCS) for adapting tochannel conditions.

Indication of Grant-Resources Responsive to Positioning ResourceRequests

Accordingly, in various aspects, alternatives may be provided for thebase station to indicate the grant-resources on which the UE is totransmit, to the base station, measurement reports/informationcorresponding to measurements that were performed by the UE according toor using the updated/adjusted positioning-resources previously requestedby the UE via the physical layer signaling. The base station may thusprovide UE-specific UL grants without the need for a scheduling requestfrom the UE and/or without requiring a separate DCI. Suchgrants/grant-resources may be provided by the base station to the UEimplicitly or explicitly.

According to a first option, the grant may be implicitly provided byspecifically configuring grants for the UE to transmit positioningmeasurement reports (e.g., as mentioned above) to the base station aspecified number of symbols following the measurement gap (which isdefined as the specific time period or period of time during which theUE performs inter-frequency and/or inter-RAT measurements). In otherwords, the resources used by the UE to transmit the UL measurementreport(s) described above may be a specified number, Nx, of symbolsafter the end of the measurement gap. Note that when measurements areassociated with PRS resources that are activated (e.g., aperiodic-PRS,activation by DCI) or triggered (E.g., semi-persistent PRS, triggeringby MAC CE), the measurement gap may be dynamically indicated and/orimplicitly indicated. Note further that when the measurement gap isdynamically indicated, multiple measurement gaps may be configured andthe DCI may activate one of them. Note additionally that when themeasurement gap is implicitly indicated, the measurement gap may be atime window which may be determined by PRS occasions. For example, themeasurement gap may start M_1 symbols before a first symbol of a firstaperiodic PRS resource/semi-persistent PRS resource or M_2>=0 symbolsafter an activation/trigger is received, where both M_1 and M_2 aregreater than or equal to 0 symbols. Further, a measurement gap durationmay be higher layer configured or may end N_1 symbols after an end oflast A/SP-PRS PRS resource/semi-persistent PRS resource or N_2 symbolsafter an activation/trigger, where both M_1 and M_2 are greater than orequal to 0 symbols and N_2 is greater than M_2. This doesn't requireprovisioning of an additional grant as the report is simply expected tobe automatically transmitted by the UE a specified number of symbolsfollowing the performance of the measurement(s) performed by the UE.Alternatively, the report may be transmitted after the end of the lastsymbol of the last DL-PRS resource. The specified number may bedetermined based on the capability of the UE. For example, Nx may dependon how quickly the UE can calculate information to be transmitted,following the measurements, or it may depend on other similar metricsaffecting the time by which the UE may be ready to transmit the report.

According to a second option, the UL grant for the UE to transmit themeasurement report may be explicitly provided in a DCI, e.g., as part ofthe PRS indication. That is, the grant may be indicated in the same DCIin which the updated resources for PRS are indicated in response to thephysical signaling request previously transmitted by the UE.Accordingly, the base station may indicate such grant-resources as partof the physical layer signaling by the base station indicating theassistance data to the UE, or in case of a legacy response (e.g., usingLPP signaling, as previously described above) the LMF may indicate theresource for measurement reporting to the UE as part of providingassistance data procedure via LPP signaling.

Example of UE-Triggered Physical Layer Signaling for UpdatedPositioning-Resources

FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an example of the use of physicallayer signaling by a UE and a base station for requesting and obtainingupdated or adjusted positioning-resources, according to some aspects.The example in FIG. 7 illustrates a physical layer procedure for the UErequesting a DL-PRS. UL Positioning-SRS resources may also be similarlyindicated to UE following the UE's request for adjusted positioningrequirements. As shown in FIG. 7, at 702, UE 710 triggers a physicalsignaling request for positioning assistance resources to base station712. At 704, base station 712 provides DL-PRS triggered by DCI. ThePUSCH grant resource for the measurement report to be transmitted by theUE 710 is explicitly indicated or activated by DCI for DL-PRS. At 706,the UE 710 performs the positioning measurements on the correspondingresources indicated in 704. At 708, the UE 710 transmits the positioningmeasurement report and/or location information using the PUSCH or PUCCHresource also explicitly indicated in 704. The example illustrated inFIG. 7 corresponds to the second option detailed in the previoussection, according to which the UL grant for the UE to transmit themeasurement report may be explicitly provided in a DCI, e.g., as part ofthe PRS indication.

Measurement Gaps

Once positioning-resources (e.g., PRS resources) have been indicated tothe UE, subsequent measurement(s) by the UE may be performed duringpreviously configured periodic measurement periods (referenced as“regular” measurement gaps), or during dynamically allocated measurementperiods (referenced as “special” measurement gaps) intended to expeditethe measurements for a faster update. In other words, at least two typesof measurement gaps may be implemented. A first type of measurement gapmay be an RRC configured (or preconfigured) periodic measurement gap forregular positioning needs, referenced as a “regular” measurement gap. Asecond type of measurement gap may be a dynamically triggeredmeasurement gap allocated on an on-demand basis, referenced as a“special” measurement gap. Note that when measurements are associatedwith PRS resources that are activated (e.g., aperiodic-PRS, activationby DCI) or triggered (E.g., semi-persistent PRS, triggering by MAC CE),the measurement gap may be dynamically indicated and/or implicitlyindicated (e.g., a special measurement gap). Note further, that when themeasurement gap is dynamically indicated, multiple measurement gaps maybe configured and the DCI may activate one of them. Note additionally,that when the measurement gap is implicitly indicated, the measurementgap may be a time window which may be determined by PRS occasions. Forexample, the measurement gap may start M_1 symbols before a first symbolof a first aperiodic PRS resource/semi-persistent PRS resource or M_2>=0symbols after an activation/trigger is received, where both M_1 and M_2are greater than or equal to 0 symbols. Further, a measurement gapduration may be higher layer configured or may end N_1 symbols after anend of last A/SP-PRS PRS resource/semi-persistent PRS resource or N_2symbols after an activation/trigger, where both M_1 and M_2 are greaterthan or equal to 0 symbols and N_2 is greater than M_2. For example, incertain scenarios or instances the UE may benefit from very quick/promptupdates due to fast change of positions, and in such cases a specialmeasurement gap may be allocated. For regular measurement gaps, therespective operations of the UE and the base station are defined suchthat the positioning signaling is configured not to conflict with otherDL transmissions. However, for the dynamic measurement gaps, thepositioning signaling may or may not overlap with other downlinksignals, and the UE may therefore determine whether or not to treat anysuch signaling overlap(s) as an error from the base station.

Pursuant the above, the special measurement gaps may be allocated suchthat the UE is not expected to receive any downlink data or DLcommunications except DL-PRS within the special measurement gap(duration). If the DL-PRS indicated within the special measurementduration overlaps with other DL or communications, the UE may not beexpected to receive the other DL communications, instead prioritizingthe DL-PRS over other DL signals (e.g., such as PDSCH) within thespecial measurement duration. The operation of the UE under suchcircumstance may also depend on whether the response to the UE'sprevious request (via physical signaling) is received from the basestation (via physical layer signaling) or the LMF (via LPP procedure).For example, if the UE receives the PRS resources from the base stationvia physical layer signaling within the special measurement durationthen the UE may not expect to receive other DL communications during thespecial measurement period, otherwise the UE may prioritize reception ofthe DL-PRS over other DL communications during the special measurementperiod.

Dynamic Positioning Resource Requests

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for a mobile device,e.g., UE, using physical layer signaling for dynamically requestingpositioning-resources. At 802, the UE transmits via physical layersignaling to a base station, a request for positioning-resources, e.g.,for updated/adjusted positioning-resources for the UE. The UE maytrigger the physical layers signaling to transmit the request inresponse to determining that the current positioning-resources of the UEneed to be adjusted/updated. At 804, the UE receives, via physical layersignaling from the base station, an indication of adjustedpositioning-resources and optionally an indication of correspondingallocated grant-resources on which to transmit positioning measurementresults and/or location information. At 806, the UE performs positioningmeasurements and/or determines the present location of the UE using theadjusted/updated positioning-resources. At 808, the UE transmits, viaphysical layer signaling to the base station, positioning information(e.g., positioning measurements and/or the location of the UE), usingthe corresponding allocated grant-resources when applicable.

Dynamic Provisioning of Positioning-Resources

FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for a base station,e.g., gNB, dynamically provisioning positioning-resources for a UE,e.g., in response to a request received from the UE via physical layersignaling. At 902, the base station receives, via physical layersignaling from a UE, a request for positioning-resources, e.g., forupdated/adjusted positioning-resources for the UE. The request may bereceived in response to the UE determining that the currentpositioning-resources of the UE need to be adjusted/updated. At 904, thebase station determines adjusted positioning-resources for the UE, andoptionally determines corresponding allocated grant-resources on whichto receive positioning measurement results and/or location informationfrom the UE, based on the received request. At 906, the base stationtransmits, via physical layer signaling to the UE, an indication of theadjusted positioning-resources and optionally transmits an indication ofthe corresponding allocated grant-resources as applicable. At 908, thebase station receives, via physical layer signaling from the UE,positioning information (e.g., positioning measurements and/or thelocation of the UE). The base station may receive the positioninginformation on the corresponding allocated grant-resources whenapplicable.

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

Aspects of the present disclosure may be realized in any of variousforms. For example, in some aspects, the present disclosure may berealized as a computer-implemented method, a computer-readable memorymedium, or a computer system. In other aspects, the present disclosuremay be realized using one or more custom-designed hardware devices suchas ASICs. In other aspects, the present disclosure may be realized usingone or more programmable hardware elements such as FPGAs.

In some aspects, a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium (e.g.,a non-transitory memory element) may be configured so that it storesprogram instructions and/or data, where the program instructions, ifexecuted by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform amethod, e.g., any of the methods described herein, or, any combinationof the methods described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodsdescribed herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some aspects, a device (e.g., a UE) may be configured to include aprocessor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium (or memoryelement), where the memory medium stores program instructions, where theprocessor is configured to read and execute the program instructionsfrom the memory medium, where the program instructions are executable toimplement any of the various methods described herein (or, anycombination of the methods described herein, or, any subset of any ofthe methods described herein, or, any combination of such subsets). Thedevice may be realized in any of various forms.

Any of the methods described herein for operating a user equipment (UE)or device may be the basis of a corresponding method for operating abase station or appropriate network node, by interpreting eachmessage/signal X received by the UE in the downlink as message/signal Xtransmitted by the base station/network node, and each message/signal Ytransmitted in the uplink by the UE as a message/signal Y received bythe base station/network node.

Although the aspects above have been described in considerable detail,numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It isintended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all suchvariations and modifications.

1. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor incommunication with the memory and configured to perform operationscomprising: receiving, via physical layer signaling from a device, arequest for positioning-resources for the device, responsive to adetermination to adjust current positioning-resources of the device;transmitting, via physical layer signaling to the device and responsiveto the request, an indication of adjusted positioning-resources; andreceiving, from the device via physical layer signaling, positioninginformation indicative of one or more of: positioning measurementsperformed by the device using the adjusted positioning-resources; or alocation of the device determined using the adjustedpositioning-resources.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thedetermination to adjust the current positioning-resources comprises oneof: a determination that the current positioning-resources areinsufficient for required positioning accuracy and/or positioninglatency of the device; a determination that the currentpositioning-resources exceed what is necessary for required positioningaccuracy and/or positioning latency of the device; or a determinationthat the device intends to reduce its power consumption.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the request is either implicitly indicatedin specific positioning measurement and/or location information receivedvia the physical layer signaling, or explicitly indicated as resourceinformation received on one or more physical uplink channels via thephysical layer signaling.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein theresource information is included as part of one or more of: controlstate information received on a physical uplink control channel; or datapayload received on a physical uplink data channel.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the specific positioning measurement and/or locationinformation comprises one or more of: an indication of a change inserving cell for the device; or a current positioning resolution for thedevice.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the resource informationcomprises one or more of: an index of positioning-resources and/orresource sets requested by the device; a spatial receive directionpreferred by the device; a transmit/receive panel index corresponding towhere the device expects to receive positioning reference signals (PRSs)from; PRS bandwidth; PRS duration per slot; PRS periodicity; number ofPRS repetitions per periodicity; a PRS demand transmitted via a specialscheduling request (SR) on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH); aPRS demand transmitted via a special physical random access controlchannel (PRACH); or time duration for which the PRS is required by thedevice.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: determining the adjusted positioning-resources based at leaston the received request.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, whereintransmitting the indication of adjusted positioning-resources comprisestransmitting the indication of adjusted positioning-resources as part ofone or more of: device specific downlink control information (DCI);group-common DCI; or a media access control (MAC) control element. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:transmitting, to the device and responsive to the request, an indicationof grant-resources on which the device is to transmit the positioninginformation.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein transmitting theindication of grant-resources comprises transmitting the indication ofgrant-resources together with the indication of adjustedpositioning-resources.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein theindication of grant-resources and the indication of adjustedpositioning-resources are indicated by downlink control informationtransmitted to the device on a physical downlink control channel.
 12. Abase station, comprising: a radio; and a processing element operativelycoupled to the radio; wherein the processing element is configured tocause the base station to: receive, via physical layer signaling from adevice, a request for positioning-resources for the device, responsiveto a determination to adjust current positioning-resources of thedevice; transmit, via physical layer signaling to the device andresponsive to the request, an indication of adjustedpositioning-resources; and receive, from the device via physical layersignaling, positioning information indicative of one or more of:positioning measurements performed by the device using the adjustedpositioning-resources; or a location of the device determined using theadjusted positioning-resources.
 13. The base station of claim 12,wherein receiving the positioning information comprises receiving thepositioning information a specified number of symbols after an end of ameasurement period during which the positioning measurements areperformed by the device.
 14. The base station of claim 13, wherein thespecified number is determined based on a capability of the device. 15.The base station of claim 12, wherein the measurement period is one of:a preconfigured measurement period reserved for performing measurements;or a measurement period specifically allocated for performing thepositioning measurements.
 16. The base station of claim 15, wherein theprocessing element is further configured to cause the base station to:transmit positioning reference signals to the device according to theadjusted positioning resources without additional downlinkcommunications during the specifically allocated measurement period. 17.A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing programinstructions executable by processing circuitry to cause a base stationto: receive, via physical layer signaling from a device, a request forpositioning-resources for the device, responsive to a determination toadjust current positioning-resources of the device; transmit, viaphysical layer signaling to the device and responsive to the request, anindication of adjusted positioning-resources; and receive, from thedevice via physical layer signaling, positioning information indicativeof one or more of: positioning measurements performed by the deviceusing the adjusted positioning-resources; or a location of the devicedetermined using the adjusted positioning-resources.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 17, wherein thedetermination to adjust the current positioning-resources comprises oneof: a determination that the current positioning-resources areinsufficient for required positioning accuracy and/or positioninglatency of the device; a determination that the currentpositioning-resources exceed what is necessary for required positioningaccuracy and/or positioning latency of the device; or a determinationthat the device intends to reduce its power consumption.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer readable memory medium of claim 17, wherein therequest is either implicitly indicated in specific positioningmeasurement and/or location information received by the base station viathe physical layer signaling, or explicitly indicated as resourceinformation received on one or more physical uplink channels via thephysical layer signaling.
 20. The non-transitory computer readablememory medium of claim 19, wherein the resource information is includedas part of one or more of: control state information received on aphysical uplink control channel; or data payload received on a physicaluplink data channel.